Outside the US. I always find job searches a grind. No one hands you a job, but if you work it hard you can get multiple offers. I never worked for a company who "got a new round of funding though" - so that might be a tell. Try adding boring companies (bootstrapped, profitable, serve a customer segment that isn't tech) and government into the mix.
Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
311–320 of 385 posts
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#312It took me 200 applications to land my job, and I think the rest of everyone I know who’s a decent programmer had similar situations. The bottom line is that everyone has employment and only had to move for it if they’re taking a high (120k+ TC for entry level) paying position. This is “falling of trees” compared to any other industry. Being able to land a middle class job directly in the field of your education with…
This comparison of what it's like outside is not helping. People usually like to maintain and better their quality of life, and a drop in status hurts no matter where you are. People buy houses, pay mortgages, connect in social circles according to their financial status. No matter who you are, selling your house or not being able to hangout with friends doing the things you love sucks.
Even if it's true, a random statistic fact cannot make your situation better. For example, earning $32K puts you in the top 1% of the incomes across the world. Does it make you feel any better?
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#313I've had a flurry of recruiter's contact me lately. A lot more than I usually get. Non-FAANG, 2 YOE. So there is another anecdote for you all.
Recruiter spam is just noise. It has almost no correlation to job offers whatsoever.
A lack of recruiters and surplus of candidates would lead to less recruiter spam on average.
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#314Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t agree on a few of these. I wouldn’t personalize your resume for any company, nor do I recommend writing a personalized cover letter for any of them — you have no idea the skill set that will be valued by the person reading the resume, as they are an unknown random variable. I feel it’s just a time waste and there is no proof that this sort of thing is fruitful. Also fuck leetcode. I’ve refused to do the leetc…
OP here. I agree with not customizing the resume, that's not sustainable for a necessarily high-volume job search. I'm lucky enough that my background is in a relatively popular field, so it's a much better strategy to just apply to places that are already a good fit for my existing resume. Definitely not going to do micro-tweaks to a resume based on whatever happens to be in the listing. Keep in mind recruiters spen…
I wrote above that I don't understand _not_ customizing the resume, but I understand why it would seem not sustainable for a high volume job search.... can't say I wouldn't force myself to do it though as I think not doing it increases the chance of having to apply to more jobs.
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#315I think this is over-generalizing I've been both on the hiring side and candidate side this year and demand is still very strong (granted moreso for more senior applicants than junior). Couple of tips that have worked for me: * Make sure your Linkedin is up-to-date, you have "open to work" turned on and that your experience is filled with direct results and accomplishments. Example of a bad bullet point (Used javascr…
> Example of a bad bullet point (Used javascript to build a user-facing dashboard). Example of a good bullet point (Built a new dashboard product that manages x for y number of users. Ultimately drove z result. Master Drywall Contractor Built walls using 5/8 in. x 4 ft. x 12 ft. Firecode X Drywall over 178,000 sq. ft. resulting in client generating $1.1b in revenue annually.
I need more understanding with this line of thinking. In the context of a single software engineer, I have a hard time believing that measurable business outcomes are substantially attributed to the actions of a single engineer 99% of the time.
Happy to have my mind changed.
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#316I experienced this same thing in 2020 when I was hunting for my current job. I lost count of how many places I applied to. Over the past year, I have been on the hiring side, and I can offer a few tips as well, based on filtering through many resumes and doing many interviews. 1) Don't list 20 different technologies and claim to be an expert in all of them. There is no way for someone to be a true "expert" in many te…
[deleted]
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#317Honestly, this doesn't sound much different than a year ago, five years ago, or ten years ago. Companies never seem to be serious about hiring: they go fishing but never reel anyone in, they ghost you after a few communications, they reject your application with automation, and even if you have an internal referral, the referrer is usually only able to do "Go apply through the normal funnel and if you get through the…
> Every job hunt for me is still around 100 applications : 10 interviews : 1 offer. These ratios have remained pretty reliable through bull and bear hiring markets.
Same here. But, I'm horrible at selling myself.
> I suspect people for whom "jobs are falling off trees" are rarer than HN commenters might have you believe.
I don't think so. The people for which jobs are falling off trees are those who have spent at least 10 years building their brand and their network. It reminds me a bit of this comic I see on occasion: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRwe2qaU8AAwLE5?format=jpg&name=...
And it's accurate for me. I'm lazy. That's why I became a programmer to begin with.
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Example of a bad bullet point (Used javascript to build a user-facing dashboard). Example of a good bullet point (Built a new dashboard product that manages x for y number of users. Ultimately drove z result. Master Drywall Contractor Built walls using 5/8 in. x 4 ft. x 12 ft. Firecode X Drywall over 178,000 sq. ft. resulting in client generating $1.1b in revenue annually.
I need more understanding with this line of thinking. In the context of a single software engineer, I have a hard time believing that measurable business outcomes are substantially attributed to the actions of a single engineer 99% of the time. Happy to have my mind changed.
[deleted]
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not cronyism - it’s people knowing your portfolio of work and abilities. And at the end of the day - do whatever you need to within reason to put food on your own table. Don’t worry about someone else judging you for cronyism for feeding your family.
I didn't call it cronyism. I asked what cronyism would be called if the qualifications were met. The point is that giving preference to someone you know reduces or even eliminates the other person's opportunity. This is especially important for minority groups that may not have as many connections in a given industry. Sure, people do what they need to for work, but people skipping in line...
> but people skipping in line...
But picking someone to join your team isn’t taking the first person who appears in line.
Re: Tell HN: Employers are not desperate to hire developers
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Example of a bad bullet point (Used javascript to build a user-facing dashboard). Example of a good bullet point (Built a new dashboard product that manages x for y number of users. Ultimately drove z result. Master Drywall Contractor Built walls using 5/8 in. x 4 ft. x 12 ft. Firecode X Drywall over 178,000 sq. ft. resulting in client generating $1.1b in revenue annually.
I need more understanding with this line of thinking. In the context of a single software engineer, I have a hard time believing that measurable business outcomes are substantially attributed to the actions of a single engineer 99% of the time. Happy to have my mind changed.
[deleted]